


Mirror (Star Stable)

by Burgie



Series: SSOWeek April 2016 [24]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7794148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex finally gets a date with Anne. Takes place in Summer Riders.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror (Star Stable)

“Oh, where did it go?” Anne asked, rifling through her handbag. Still no mirror. What kind of a girl left home in the middle of summer to work in a dusty horse paddock without a mirror? An idiot, that’s who.

Sighing, Anne placed her handbag back inside the dry barrel and combed her hair back from her face. She tied it back into a ponytail knowing that it looked messy but unable to do anything about it. Then, she spied a barrel full of rain water. Well, if she was going to look awful anyway…

Anne dunked her head into the water barrel after untying her hair again and immediately remembered that she was wearing makeup. She pulled her head back out with a noise of despair. Now her makeup would be ruined. Water trickled down her skin, soaking into her nice white top, but Anne didn’t care. Not when her mascara was running like a bear was chasing it. At least now she had a mirror.

Anne grabbed her sodden handkerchief and immediately went to work fixing up the black smudges under her eyes. She barely even noticed the other person in the reflection.

“Should’ve known that someone like you would be too precious to resist looking at herself in any reflective surface,” said the girl. Anne blushed and turned around to look at the girl.

“Alex, right?” said Anne. She vaguely recognised the girl from bonfire nights, when everyone who ran the races gathered around a large bonfire at Snake Bite Ranch to eat and socialise.

“Yeah,” said Alex. She looked down and blushed. “Your, uh, shirt is see-through.”

“Yes, I do wear a bra,” said Anne. “You obviously do too.” Alex blushed and folded her arms over her chest.

“And here I thought you were…”

“What? A snooty, stuck-up princess afraid to get dirty? No, that’s Kate up at the riding hall. I do care about my appearance but quite frankly it’s so hot that I don’t give a damn about my appearance right now,” said Anne.

“I guess it is a hot summer.” Alex licked her lips. “I feel hotter over here, though.”

“Maybe it’s the company over here,” said Anne, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Maybe it is,” said Alex. Anne grinned at being flirted with.

“Would you like to go on a trail ride with me later this evening?” Anne suggested.

“Yes,” said Alex, and grinned. She walked down the hill quite normally, and then stopped at the bottom to jump around happily chanting ‘yes’. Anne watched from the paddock, chuckling at the girl.

Later that evening, as discussed, the two of them met up for a trail ride just as the sun had set. It was still bathing the landscape in a warm orange glow. Anne noticed that it made Alex’s brown eyes look lighter, and turned her hair to something not unlike gold.

“You know,” said Anne, riding up to her, “I didn’t notice before how good you look.”

“Yeah, I, uh… don’t normally have my hair down,” said Alex.

“Or wear eyeliner,” said Anne. Alex blushed, not having realised that Anne had got close enough to see that.

“Maybe I wanted to look good for my date,” said Alex.

“Well then, I’m flattered,” said Anne, smiling. “Shall we be off?”

“Yes,” said Alex. “I was thinking that maybe we could ride out around the castle? Or is that too close to the swamp?”

“There is a lovely grove of trees just over the lake,” said Anne. “Let’s go there.”

They set off from Snake Bite Ranch, quickly finding the main road that led off to the newly-built castle. Herman had built it ridiculously fast.

“Some of the other riders call you a princess,” said Alex. “I do too but for a completely different reason.”

“Oh?” said Anne, turning to face her. She had heard the people talking, of course, it wasn’t like they’d tried to be quiet.

“I call you a princess because, well… you look like one,” said Alex. Anne blushed and smiled.

“That’s probably because of the way I hold myself,” said Anne. “In all things, I try to be the picture of elegance.”

“So does Jess but she seems more like a dark princess to me,” said Alex. She grinned. “You’re like the ideal princess. Beautiful, graceful, elegant, blue-eyed, blonde-haired…”

“Graceful when I’m not plunging my head into a barrel,” said Anne. Alex laughed.

“You know, I was actually a little afraid to approach you at first,” said Alex. “I walked up to your paddock and then I just stood there. Good thing you were a little too busy to notice me. And then you dunked your head in the barrel and that made you approachable, I guess.”

“You didn’t seem all that approachable either,” said Anne as she steered her Friesian mount around a stray log on the road.

“Really?” asked Alex. “It’s not like I was trying to be stand-offish or anything. Do I really look that bad normally?”

“Not at all,” said Anne. “But you’re up there on that hill all day and you hang out with the boys on bonfire night. How was a pretty little princess supposed to approach you?”

“It didn’t stop Kate,” said Alex, grinning.

“What?” Anne hissed, unconsciously yanking on her horse’s reins. He rumbled a noise of annoyance and jerked his head, pinning his ears. “Sorry, boy.”

“Just kidding,” said Alex, laughing. “She wouldn’t even get halfway before fainting of heat exhaustion.”

“While her outfit is nice, it is very unsuitable for the season,” said Anne. Her horse walked onwards, having gotten over his earlier discomfort.

“Oh, and a suit is?” asked Alex.

“It is made of a light material,” said Anne.

“Right, which is why you had the jacket off and your head in a water barrel,” said Alex, and snickered.

“At least I’m not wearing a sweater,” said Anne. “Or knee-high socks. And the riding hall isn’t even air-conditioned.”

“Still, at least she’s out of the sun,” said Alex. “Unlike us.”

“And speaking of sun,” said Anne as her horse picked up a trot, “we should get going a little faster before we lose sunlight.”

“I wouldn’t mind sleeping out in the wild for the night,” said Alex. “It’s nice to camp in the summer. Unless you’re afraid to get a little dirty?”

“Of course not,” said Anne, acting offended. “Who do you take me for? A night spent under the stars is awfully romantic, too.” She smiled at Alex, and was pleased to get a rosy-cheeked smile back.

At last, Anne led the way across the wooden bridge past the swamp leading to the trees.

“Is it bad that I didn’t expect you to know the way?” asked Alex. “I mean, the way is kinda tricky to find what with all the bridges and islands.”

“I spend some time around here too,” said Anne. “Admiring the castle.”

“Dreams of royalty?” said Alex.

“Perhaps,” said Anne. Once they reached the endless rolling country beyond the water, she dismounted and removed her horse’s tack so that he could graze comfortably. She put the tack in a neat pile under an apple tree, noting the location and landmarks so that she’d be able to find it later. Alex did the same with her Paint mount, placing her less neat pile beside Anne’s.

“It’s nice out here,” said Alex. She stood and stretched, Anne mirroring her actions unconsciously.

“A long ride from the ranch, though,” said Anne. “But worth it.” She turned to look appraisingly at the castle. Alex looked appraisingly at her.

“I know you must get this a lot, but you really are beautiful,” said Alex. “Your hair looks like gold in the sun.”

“Even after my spontaneous dunking today?” said Anne, turning to look at Alex.

“Yeah,” said Alex. “It must be the sun. And your eyes are the prettiest shade of blue. Like dark sapphires.”

“Your hair and skin are very nice for a self-professed tomboy,” said Anne. She walked a little closer to Alex, and Alex didn’t back away. She just stood there, heart pounding. Anne reached out a hand and gently stroked Alex’s hair, noting the slight dampness from sweat. “I’ve always wanted to touch it.”

“The hair or the skin?” asked Alex. Anne’s thumb brushed Alex’s cheek, then her lips.

“Both,” said Anne, and kissed her. Alex had often fantasised about kissing Anne. She’d worried about chapped lips, but then she’d started wearing lip balm. She still worried that they might be chapped. But Anne didn’t mind, if the way she was kissing her was any indication. Anne’s lips were soft and tasted faintly of strawberry and mint, not the lipstick that she’d been expecting. Her face wasn’t powdery with foundation, either, as Alex discovered when she cupped Anne’s cheek in her hand.

Anne ended the kiss and rested her forehead on Alex’s, smiling.

“Traditionally, the kiss comes at the end of the date, but I don’t care,” said Anne, and giggled. Her breath was minty and cool, like her lips had been.

“Does that rule out a second one?” asked Alex. She worried, for a moment, that she might have bad breath. Even if it was a bit too late to worry about that now. In reply, Anne kissed her again.


End file.
